Ed Balls' romantic life suffering due to Strictly

Ed Balls' sex life has suffered because of 'Strictly Come Dancing'.

The 49-year-old politician - who married Labour MP Yvette Cooper in 1998 - has admitted he is too "exhausted" from his gruelling training for the show to want to do anything strenuous when he gets home in the evenings.

Asked if the exercise has helped him romantically, Ed said: "To be honest, I've been exhausted for about two months. It would be fair to say it's very tiring, this 'Strictly'. You do get home in the evenings and you're just exhausted.

Ed has lost over a stone since he began training for the show and feels much better, though he still thinks he has a long way to go.

He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "It's like running a marathon every day. You feel fitter and more healthy.

"Yvette thinks, to use a 2001 Labour slogan, there's a lot done, but there's a lot more to do. She thinks we're not even half way there."

But the former shadow Chancellor won't be showing off his slimmer figure in the sort of skimpy costumes favoured by fellow contestants Greg Rutherford and Danny Mac.

Ed said: "I think Danny and Greg look really good in a plunging V. But I think both I and the show's producers would do wise to steer clear of it.

"It's a family show. It's pre-watershed. It would not be good."

And Ed insists he isn't an unlikely sex symbol thanks to the show - something both his wife and his dance partner, Katya Jones, agree on.